Rosetta Stone® Bloghttp://blog.rosettastone.com
Tue, 31 Mar 2015 14:34:47 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Which 5 Traits Make an Employee Culturally Competent?http://blog.rosettastone.com/which-5-traits-make-an-employee-culturally-competent/
http://blog.rosettastone.com/which-5-traits-make-an-employee-culturally-competent/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 14:34:47 +0000http://blog.rosettastone.com/?p=18374Continue reading →]]>The idea of cultural competency has taken increased importance as the world’s economies become ever more intermingled. What were once just the skills needed by a company’s “road warrior” executives are now needed by the rank-and-file, who might have employees from many cultures just on their own team.

Cultural competency takes many forms, but here are the top 5 traits that you can expect from a culturally competent employee.

1. World-class communication skills

Yes, foreign language proficiency is important to having success in communicating on a multicultural level. To paraphrase Nelson Mandela, speaking in your language might go to someone’s head, but speaking in their language goes to their heart. Although fluency is easier to achieve than ever, even just the attempt at another person’s language can build bridges.

Of course, direct, in-person conversation isn’t the only mode of communication. These employees need to also be skilled in electronic communication as well, considering many of their subordinates might only be available through email or videoconferencing.

2. A nuanced world view

Correct or not, Americans have the reputation around the world of not necessarily being interested in how things are done in other places. The culturally competent employee can’t afford to validate that opinion. They need to be well-versed on the customs, politics, and history of many cultures.

3. Broader economic understanding

In other cultures, some economic precedents have been going on for generations. It’s much easier to work around these established practices rather than try to break them down. For example, how do regional politics affect supply chain management in this certain country? A culturally competent employee would know that.

4. A sense of grace

Many are the stories of American businessmen offending their Japanese counterparts by trying to shake hands. For the culturally competent, “When in Rome…” isn’t just a cliche. It’s a way of life.

5. A deep curiosity

Cultural competency isn’t something that is learned overnight. It needs to be continually fed by an ongoing curiosity about the world and its inhabitants. Our employee reads a lot, watches news from unexpected sources, and travels widely for pleasure, not just business.

]]>http://blog.rosettastone.com/which-5-traits-make-an-employee-culturally-competent/feed/0New Report Seeks to Dispel Misconceptions in Latino Educationhttp://blog.rosettastone.com/new-report-seeks-to-dispel-misconceptions-in-latino-education/
http://blog.rosettastone.com/new-report-seeks-to-dispel-misconceptions-in-latino-education/#commentsFri, 27 Mar 2015 13:00:28 +0000http://blog.rosettastone.com/?p=18352Continue reading →]]>The public perception of Latino education in the United States is one of failure and daunting tasks. A new report seeks to dispel that perception.

For instance, public schools are not flooded with Latino students who cannot speak English. In truth, only 18 percent of Latino students are classified as English Language Learners (ELLs). They are also more likely to enroll in post-secondary education than their white and African American classmates are.

“The conversation about Latinos and education is often very deficit-based, where we’re English language learners, we’re high school dropouts, and we’re illegal immigrants,” Deborah Santiago, vice president at Excelencia in Education and author of a new report, told NBC News. “While we still have to address those important issues in our country, the profile of Latinos is one of asset opportunities, growth, improvement and education potential.”

Reframing the conversation

Critiques of the report have been that it is overly positive about the status of Latino students in the US. Those problems that receive the most publicity do exist and need to be addressed.

But Ms. Santiago makes a valid point about the purpose of her report. “People would rather invest in opportunity and potential, not negative profiles which conjure images of people in longstanding crisis.” The report seeks to reframe the conversation.

This report comes at a welcome time. Latino students make up nearly one quarter of the public school population, a number that is projected to grow to 30 percent in the next decade. Latinos as a whole are the second largest ethnic group in the US with a population of 53 million.

One of the ways in which more progress is being made than reported is in the area of ELL education, particularly using technology. Students are reaching proficiency faster than ever, which allows them to move ahead on schedule with their non-ELL classmates.

Hopefully other positive information sources will come to light that clarify the Latino education experience in America and how many possibilities there are to transform our workforce with these very valuable and hard working people.

]]>http://blog.rosettastone.com/new-report-seeks-to-dispel-misconceptions-in-latino-education/feed/0Top 5 Traits an Expat Employee Must Possesshttp://blog.rosettastone.com/top-5-traits-an-expat-employee-must-possess/
http://blog.rosettastone.com/top-5-traits-an-expat-employee-must-possess/#commentsFri, 27 Mar 2015 12:30:16 +0000http://blog.rosettastone.com/?p=18368Continue reading →]]>With developing markets helping to power a rebounding economy, it’s no surprise that more companies are sending employees on international assignments. In fact, according to a Cartus Relocation study, 57 percent of companies feel their international assignments will increase over the next two years.

However, the failure rate for such assignments is estimated at 40 percent. Selecting the right employee for the assignment can go a long way toward making sure you’re in the 60 percent. Here are the personality traits to be looking for.

Communication skills

Obviously, the ability to speak the language of the host country is ideal (and easily trained with today’s online language learning solutions), but there are many other communication skills that help the foreign employee.

Cultural awareness is key. You want to make sure the employee isn’t spreading faux pas around Shanghai. There is also the ability to effectively communicate with the home office from long distance. You want to make sure “out of sight, out of mind” doesn’t happen and the employee has the ability to still contribute.

Resourcefulness

Some locations are easier for Americans to work in than others, but there are still many changes that the well-prepared employee is able to navigate both in setting up their work environment and in their personal life. Struggling to find a paper supplier for the office only adds to the stress of the job.

Adaptability

Working overseas is often working without a safety net. When things don’t go the employee’s way, can they find a way to make things work without constant help from the home office?

Good health

It may seem shallow, but you want to make sure the employee is healthy. International assignment might be the most stressful experience in a person’s career and you want to make sure they can handle it. The last thing you want is a seriously ill employee in a foreign country.

All of the above—for the employee’s family

If the employee’s family will be joining them on the assignment and they’re miserable there, the employee will be miserable and might even pull the plug early. Don’t take the employee’s word for their family’s feelings about the assignment. Try to meet them yourself before the selection is finalized to gauge their opinion, and ensure you are supporting their linguistic and cultural adaptation to the host country as part of their benefits package.

]]>http://blog.rosettastone.com/top-5-traits-an-expat-employee-must-possess/feed/03 Free Must-Have Tools to Make Your Workforce Global-Readyhttp://blog.rosettastone.com/3-free-must-have-tools-to-make-your-workforce-global-ready/
http://blog.rosettastone.com/3-free-must-have-tools-to-make-your-workforce-global-ready/#commentsThu, 26 Mar 2015 16:20:09 +0000http://blog.rosettastone.com/?p=18362Continue reading →]]>With the demands of the ever-increasing global economy, it’s important to understand just how ready your workforce is to meet those challenges. You might think you have a handle on your employees’ skills in the area of global readiness, but perhaps you aren’t receiving the right information.

Our new report, Driving Global Readiness: A Road Map, relays the story of the president of the Kendall-Jackson vineyard finding out during the filming of Undercover Boss that his workers don’t fully understand English. He had no idea because senior management is often not involved in matters of language learning and cultural competency.

That’s why we developed the Global Readiness Toolkit. It helps management take a systematic approach to assessing their workforce’s abilities in this multicultural and multilingual economy and then take action. Let’s take a look at the materials included in the toolkit in the order in which we feel they should be used.

First, take a holistic view of your company’s medium- and long-term goals in regards to domestic multilingual needs and/or global expansion. Which languages and cultures facilitate those goals? Once that’s complete, it’s time for the Global Readiness Talent Survey.

The Survey is a short (12 question) exercise for employees to take stock of their own cultural competency and report those findings to you. It goes much deeper than just language skills, also asking about cultural knowledge needs that would help them do their jobs better and what impacts they feel from their current lack of knowledge. Although we provide it in document form, it is easily convertible to an online survey with results being tabulated automatically.

Tool 2: Global Readiness Talent Map

Do the goals of the business match with the skills your employees indicated on the survey? Probably not. The Global Readiness Talent Map is a form that fits with the questions of the survey and your business goals, splitting them into a current view and then one, three, and five years into the future.

In short, it takes the goals you’ve set out, the results from the survey, and recommended action items that should be accomplished to bridge those gaps.

This map goes a long way toward generating senior management buy-in for any training needs the organization might need to acquire. It makes it easy to visualize the company’s current capabilities with the organization’s goals in an easy-to-read way.

Tool 3: Global Readiness Development Plan

Finally, once buy-in is committed, it’s time to start organizing the steps the individual employees will need to take in their development using the Global Readiness Development Plan.

It’s not descriptive enough to add “Learn Spanish” as an action item on an existing plan. This template’s purpose is to eliminate the ambiguity of any existing plan template you might use when it comes to cultural competency. The Development Plan template provides the format needed to systematically attack employee development in this field, including the desired skills and how success will be measured.

Completing these steps and utilizing these tools can vastly improve your organization’s progress in moving towards global competency, shortening the time it takes for your company to be able to compete on a global scale.

To see the Global Readiness Toolkit for yourself, click this link. Or to get a full walk-through, watch the recorded webinar where HR.com’s David Creelman and Rosetta Stone’s Sheerin Vesin examine how to use this toolkit step by step.

]]>http://blog.rosettastone.com/3-free-must-have-tools-to-make-your-workforce-global-ready/feed/0Pathways to English Language Learner Success Webinarhttp://blog.rosettastone.com/pathways-to-english-language-learner-success-webinar/
http://blog.rosettastone.com/pathways-to-english-language-learner-success-webinar/#commentsWed, 25 Mar 2015 14:00:07 +0000http://blog.rosettastone.com/?p=18283Continue reading →]]>For the optimists, the growth of the nation’s English language learner (ELL) population is an opportunity to integrate millions of bilingual, culturally skilled students into the US economy. Currently, ELLs represent about 11 percent of the public school population, with that figure projected to grow to 25 percent in the next decade. That being said, there are still many challenges to overcome to make those integration dreams a reality.

The first step in any ELL program is improving the students’ language development. It’s an uphill battle, but there are ways to efficiently, effectively close the gap. The Rosetta Stone® Language Learning Suite has been proven to help ELL students build confidence in their new language quickly by leveraging:

Watch Rosetta Stone’s “Pathways to English Language Learner Success” – an on-demand webinar – to learn about how our Language Learning Suite can help schools and districts close the ELL achievement gap while preparing themselves for the projected increase in ELL population.

All it takes is 30 minutes of your valuable time. You will come away not only with a greater understanding of how our Language Learning Suite can help address your ELL population, but also with an actionable plan that can help you get started the very next day. As you can see from the statistics above, there is no time to lose. Watch the on-demand webinar today.

After all, this is an opportunity to help students prepare for the 21st century economy who are tailor-made for success—with the right tools.

If you enjoyed reading this blog post, feel free to share it with your colleagues!

Playing video games is great cognitive exercise; it helps improve your focus, memory, and ability to multitask. And now with Rosetta Stone’s Discover Languages Xbox launch, you can also use a video game to learn a new language. Rosetta Stone’s new application teaches English and Spanish by way of immersive simulation. Virtual travel experiences teach you the vocabulary and grammar necessary for real-world interactions. So before you book a flight to a foreign destination, grab your controller.

How does it work?

You’ll explore several locations in the Discovery Zone and chat with the characters you find there. In the Training Zone, you’ll solidify the concepts you encountered with study recommendations, cultural tips, phrase books, and of course, more games! Keep track of your achievements, and keep practicing until you get a perfect score. With Rosetta Stone’s proven technology-based immersion method in a video-game interface, who knew language learning could be so fun?

#10 – Professional development for non-ELL teachersVery few ELL students find themselves in ELL-only classes. They tend to be “mainstreamed” into at least a few core subject classes with their English-speaking classmates. Those teachers need to be familiar with ELL education, but it helps to be able to have at least a passing understanding of an ELL student’s primary language.

#9 – Engagement with technologyJust like native English speakers, ELL students are from the technology generation and find themselves more engaged in learning when they are using a device. Our research shows that usage of language-learning curricula greatly increases when it is provided via technology.

#8 – More parental involvementFor reasons both economic and cultural, engaging with parents of ELLs can present challenges. Not only can Rosetta Stone solutions help teachers communicate more effectively (see #10), but the reporting features can give a graphical representation of progress that is more easily understood.

#6 – Oral language practice without needing another personThe Language Learning Suite offers opportunities for students to practice their oral language skills without needing another person in the room—again, maximizing available resources.

#5 – Ability to use primary language in core subject area classesAs a dovetail to #10, when ELL students have at least a base understanding in English, they are much more effective in their core classes.

#3 – Ability to practice anytime, anywhereAlways-on capability is especially important for ELLs, who may have additional responsibilities outside the classroom that require flexible homework time.

#2 – Preparation for the Common CoreThe Common Core and the other next-gen standards call for a student to be able to interact with knowledge in deeper, more complex ways—especially in English/language arts. Rosetta Stone solutions also call for critical thinking and problem solving. It’s far from rote memorization.

#1 – Preparation for next-gen assessmentsThe assessments designed for the new standards tend to be computer-based and more interactive than paper-based tests. Although ELL students have grown up around technology, they still need practice in following directions and interacting with software. Rosetta Stone solutions feature many learning tasks that work similarly to those found on the new tests.

If you enjoyed reading this post, feel free to forward it to your colleagues!

]]>http://blog.rosettastone.com/top-10-ways-rosetta-stone-solutions-support-ell-classroom-success/feed/0Expat to Repat: Where the Rubber Meets the Runwayhttp://blog.rosettastone.com/expat-to-repat-where-the-rubber-meets-the-runway/
http://blog.rosettastone.com/expat-to-repat-where-the-rubber-meets-the-runway/#commentsThu, 19 Mar 2015 12:30:07 +0000http://blog.rosettastone.com/?p=18223Continue reading →]]>Sending an employee on a long term overseas assignment is a big decision for an organization, one made with the future of the company in mind. It’s anticipated that the employee will come back with a wealth of new knowledge and ready to take an expanded role in the company. What turns out to be the case for 38 percent of repatriated employees is that they leave their company within a year of returning from their assignment.

There are many possible reasons for this, including culture shock and lack of a position at the home office that reflects their new skill set. Here are some things you can do to make sure the transition goes as smoothly as possible.

Plan ahead

The best resource in repatriation is foresight that might be years ahead of the actual return date. Start including the employee in succession plans. Bring them back for networking within the home office (especially if you might not have a job lined up for them). Start including them on the email and memo lists they will need before they arrive. Finally, arrange a return trip a few months before the actual date so the family can hunt for housing and register for schools.

Consider the employee’s financials

There are all sort of tax issues that come with repatriation. Although your financial people have been looking out for the company’s expenses during the assignment, the employee is probably coming back to the country unaware of their financial situation. Arrange for a consultation with a professional and provide any information they might need to make sure their dealings with authorities go as smoothly as possible.

Don’t forget the family

Upon return, the focus might shift to just the employee. Their family was away, too. Any counseling you arrange should be offered to the spouse and kids. Do what you can to make sure the spouse has an easy time finding work. And if you have some sort of “welcome home” gathering, invite the family.

Let them talk

You might think the employee would just want to slip back into the home office unnoticed, but most actually want to share their experiences with anyone who will listen. Make sure there are extensive debriefing meetings so the employee can pass on their knowledge. Arrange a repatriation mentor that can help the employee transition.

Want more information about making your developmental candidates global-ready? We and HR.com have just released a new white paper, “Driving Global Readiness: A Road Map”, full of new information about the importance of language learning in employee retention and training, as well as results from a recent survey about how employers and employees view the importance of making their workforce global-ready. It also comes with partner materials such as a global readiness talent map, development plan, and talent survey.

I know what you’re thinking… it makes so much more sense for me to stick to learning Latin-based languages. Why would I ever consider learning a language as extreme as Mandarin Chinese? And, where would I even start? Hold that thought!

There has never been a better time to start learning Mandarin Chinese. Fact! What’s more, it might not even be as difficult as you first thought… let me explain:

Mandarin Chinese isn’t difficult, it’s just different

Firstly, Chinese vocabulary just makes sense. Words are constructed from a set of roots, called radicals. With knowledge of these radicals (there are 214 – which really isn’t that many in the grand scheme of things!) we are able to group characters and grasp their meanings. Radical, right?

Mandarin Chinese grammar is also extremely simple. There are no verb conjugations, nor gender-specific nouns, and tenses are expressed simply using time phrases such as ‘yesterday’ and ‘tomorrow’. So you can throw away those verb and tense tables!

If that wasn’t enough to persuade you to pick up a textbook, there’s also a Romanization system of Mandarin Chinese called pinyin, which means you don’t even have to learn Chinese characters if you don’t want to! What about the tones, you say? Easy – just find a Chinese language partner and practice speaking Chinese when you can; soon enough your tones will fall into place naturally.

Open yourself to one of the world’s most diverse cultures

There are 56 ethnic groups in China and each group has its own unique customs, culture, architecture and even language. In fact, there are over 200 languages in use in China – but don’t let that put you off, as the majority of the population speak Mandarin Chinese (as well as Cantonese in the South). There is nothing more beautiful than being able to travel and interact with people in a language familiar to them, and it can often build a sense of trust and understanding that can be hard to obtain without knowledge of the language. Sail down the Yangtze or take a 24,000 ft cable car through the mountains of Zhangjiajie (which were the inspiration for the Hallelujah Mountains in Avatar!). One thing’s for sure, take a trip to China and you’ll never look back!

Mandarin Chinese will get you noticed

We all know that employers love their workforce to be able to speak a multitude of languages, but as China’s economy became the world’s largest in 2014, people with Mandarin Chinese language skills have never been more attractive to prospective employers!

The truth is I could have given you a million reasons to learn Mandarin Chinese, but one still remains – challenge yourself. Mandarin Chinese is a fantastic language and I have no doubt that if you set yourself the target, you will learn to love it!